Police: Cars broken into in downtown Spartanburg during Christmas parade

Wednesday

Dec 12, 2012 at 8:00 PM

As more than 20,000 people lined the streets for Spartanburg's Christmas parade on Tuesday night, a Grinch or two stole a few pocketbooks and probably some Christmas spirit from parked cars, according to police.

By Jenny Arnoldjennifer.arnold@shj.com

As more than 20,000 people lined the streets for Spartanburg's Christmas parade on Tuesday night, a Grinch or two stole a few pocketbooks and probably some Christmas spirit from parked cars, according to police.Lt. Tim Suber, special events coordinator for the Spartanburg Public Safety Department, said as the parade ended and spectators returned to their cars, several people who parked in a lot near Ezell and Springs streets discovered their cars had been damaged or broken into.Five cars in all were targeted, Suber said. Police believe that the suspects may have used a rock or brick to smash windows and get into four of the cars. The fifth car showed damage to the doors but those responsible were not able to get into the vehicle, according to an incident report.Four purses were taken from the cars, the report states. The women had tried to conceal the purses under or behind car seats but that did not deter the suspects."It's horrible," Suber said. "We had a wonderful parade last night and then, boom, you have five cars that were broken into. I feel for the people who were victimized."Those responsible didn't get away with much, according to the report. One victim was missing $4 and a silver charm bracelet. Another woman said $20 was missing from her purse. Another woman got all of her belongings back, but allowed police to take some plastic cards from her purse in an attempt to get fingerprints, the report states.Suber said the purses were found near QS/1. As police gathered the victims' information, a woman told officers that they saw two men between 18-22 years old near the parking lot, and that when she first saw them, they were closer to QS/1 and were whistling at women, according to the report. The woman said when she said, "Hey, come here," to the men, they ran. The woman said she ran after them. Suber said police used a K-9 to track the men for about 1.5 miles but no suspects were located.Suber said the public safety department has adjusted officers' schedules so that there is more manpower around shopping centers during the holiday shopping season and downtown, especially with the addition of an ice skating rink that has drawn more than 5,000 visitors to Morgan Square since opening 3 weeks ago. But the suspects apparently preyed on the victims as police worked road closures and crowd control during the parade, Suber said."We want everybody to have a good time when they come downtown, and I would not want this to keep people from coming downtown to enjoy the ice skating and other events," he said.Suber urges residents to not leave gifts and personal belongings in plain sight when leaving their vehicles."It's not the victims' fault," he said. "But we encourage people to hide items or just not bring them at all."Capt. Regina Nowak said investigators hopes video surveillance in the downtown area will reveal the suspects. She said she's noticed a shift in car break-ins in the city, from the Converse Heights area in September and October, to downtown. Break-ins have been reported in the Nautilus Fitness parking lot on Church Street, and at II Samuels restaurant on East Henry recently. Those victims told police that someone apparently used a rock to smash a car window and get inside."Do not leave purses, packages, computers, in your car," Nowak said. "Leave nothing of value in your car, even bookbags, which often contain computers, iPads or iPads. The suspects are looking for anything that can be resold. We can't stop this. We can't put an officer out on every corner to watch for this. Help yourself by securing anything of value out of plain sight."Anyone with information about the recent car break-ins may call the Spartanburg Public Safety Department at 596-2039 or 596-2065.

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